A NAPOLEON III ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY AND BLACK LACQUER SECRETAIRE

AFTER THE MODEL BY JEAN-HENRI RIESENER, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

A NAPOLEON III ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY AND BLACK LACQUER SECRETAIRE
AFTER THE MODEL BY JEAN-HENRI RIESENER, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
The green and red campan marble top above a central door opening to a burl walnut-veneered pigeon-hole and four drawers, over a pair of cupboard doors opening to a shelved interior, the back right corner of the top stamped F. LEFRAN[C]/JME, the bottom right corner of the reverse stamped J.H. RIESENER/JME and insribed 57-23-2
55 3/8 in. (140.5 cm.) high; 39 1/8 in. (100 cm.) wide; 17¾ in. (45 cm.) deep

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Lot essay

This magnificent sécretaire and its companion commode are faithful reproductions of Jean-Henri Riesener's celebrated suite of furniture commissioned in 1783 for Marie Antoinette's cabinet intérieur at Saint-Cloud. The originals, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are among the highlights of the Museum's collection and are considered to be the 'jewel in the crown' of Riesener's oeuvre.

In his book Les Bronzes Dorés du XVIII Siècle, Pierre Verlet initially suspects that the present commode and sécretaire are possibly by the hand of Riesener, as they appeared to him to be of almost identical beauty, casting and construction. However, it is upon further inspection that Verlet becomes unnerved to find that these